The Knight and The Damsel
by A.L.Reilley
Summary: While visiting one of his dad's parks, Dwight Houston runs into a girl who catches his attention. Is it a spell or is he actually falling for someone?  Dwight belongs to CP Coulter from her EPIC 'Dalton' fanfic
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything (well Miranda and a few other OC's are mine). Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy, Dwight (and some of the other Warblers/Windsor/Dalton boys) belong to the epicly amazing CP Coulter … I don't own the theme parks hinted at here either (if I did I would be a lot richer than I am)_

**A/N: Okay so since I got a fair amount of love for the Dwight chapter in "Get Me to the Church on Time" (which I'm still working on, don't worry, it's not abandoned – my bunnies just wanted to play with Dwight more than I was letting them in that fic), I figured I would write out some of the backstory with Dwight and Miranda. So here goes! Enjoy! 3**

Florida was hot and sticky, and Dwight hated it. But his dad had mentioned expanding on his park down here and/or possibly starting a new one. So obviously Dwight had gone down to check it out. While most people might think he was looking for normal business things (location, traffic, land costs, etc), what he was really doing was making sure the park was properly cleansed and protected and that the area for the expansion/new development wasn't cursed or anything. He parked the Impala and decided to just scope the place out alone first, he could trek around with his equipment later when it wasn't so damned hot. He flipped his hair out of his face and headed up to the entrance, bypassing the ticket stand. There was a new kid taking tickets and so Dwight pulled out his wallet and flashed his yearly season pass, not stopping for even a second.

Dwight knew the layout of every park his dad owned by heart from all the hunting he had done over the years, particularly this one as it seemed to be the one with the most monster activity for some unknown reason. A few of the longer term employees nodded at him or greeted him like family, but Dwight merely continued to walk around the park, trying to spot anything suspicious right off hand. There were a few people who sorta starstruck when he walked by. Apparently people weren't used to seeing the owner's son just walking around the park. But they obviously didn't know Dwight Houston.

One of his favorite parts of this park was (surprisingly) the tunnel boat ride, and Dwight never failed to ride it first thing when he got to the park. Of course Dwight didn't actually stand in the line for the ride, he never waited in any lines. Why should he? After ignoring the jeers and hate calls about him skipping the actual line, Dwight flashed his pass at the ride's coordinator before walking around him and expertly pressing a few buttons on the control panel to make the ride a smooth ride for just him, at the speed he wanted to go so that he could actually keep an eye the entire ride. The ride was a bit of a sentimental fluff for him, as it had always been the one ride that his Dad took him on with Alan. But Dwight didn't think about his brother right now. He had to stay sharp. Alert.

Stepping off the ride at the end, Dwight was glad there hadn't been any monsters lined up for him. Now it was time to check out what was probably the most popular area of the park, the meet and greets with all the princesses, and the last time he had visited the park, there was also a greet for all the fairies. And now he skipped ahead of both lines, earning scowls from the kids and some not so choice comments from some of the mothers. He headed first to check out the Pixie Hollow first, given the longer line. Better to save the most people in the first go. The pixies were a new attraction so he hadn't been through ever since the last time he had visited to be sure the land used for the new attraction wasn't haunted or such. Dwight heard a few colorful slurs whispered in his direction as he just walked around the lines, heading straight past the person controlling the crowd flow.

"Hey, Dwight. What are you up to this time around?" Clarence (one of the long-time employees of the park, who had actually been a help on his last cleansing raid here) smiled and clapped Dwight on the shoulder. Dwight returned the smile, glad that his dad had actually followed his advice and gave the opening over the new area to a fellow hunter. At least now he knew that he shouldn't have to worry too much about their being anything wrong with the pixie part of the park. "Hey Clarence. Everything smooth here?" Dwight's eyes scanned the area, looking for any sort of sign that there could be something up. "Nah, it's all quiet down here, Dee. Come on, I'll introduce you to my girls. It's been a while since you've been down to visit us lackeys on the ground levels." Dwight gave Clarence a half-frown. "I've been hunting, Clarence. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back down here. But Florida is just too damn hot." He followed Clarence, who just shook his head with a slight laugh before taking him back to have a walk-through and to meet the actresses playing the pixies.

Dwight's eyes were constantly scanning the pixie set-up. This whole area was perfectly ripe for any kinds of trouble. The previous group of kids and parents were leaving the area just as Dwight and Clarence walked over. Dwight smiled at the actresses who walked over (all except for the one playing Tinkerbell, who was clearly the most popular it seemed by the group of girls still chattering happily). "Okay so, we have Grace, Shandra, Cee, Anmarie, and that over there is Miranda. Ladies, this is Dwight." The one introduced as Cee gave him a once-over before turning back to Clarence. "Okay, boo, what's his deal? Only the bigwigs get this kind of special treatment." Dwight scoffed at the sassy attitude (being instantly reminded of David's girlfriend that he had met when he had passed through Chicago the last time). But rather than letting him answer, Clarence spoke first. "This is Thomas Dwight Houston." Dwight grumbled just slightly as he rolled his eyes at the looks the actresses were now giving him.

There was a subtle creaking noise and Dwight jumped, glancing around to see what had caused the almost imperceptible noise. That was when he saw it, one of the oversized fake leaves that was near the ceiling had apparently gotten loose or weak or something because it was leaning farther over before there was a loud crack. Dwight reacted before thinking and ran, tackling the actress hinted as being named Miranda, knocking her out of the way from the falling leaf that landed right where she had been standing. He landed with a groan before rolling to standing and stepping back from the actress who he had just actually saved. "You haven't upset any spirits lately have you?"

Dwight grabbed his spray bottle and spritzed the fallen actress a few times in the face just to be sure she wasn't a demon or such. Good, no reaction (well aside from her raising an eyebrow in curiosity). "Uhm, not that I know of. Why do you ask?" Dwight watched as she stood and dusted herself off before running a hand over her face. She turned to Clarence with a smile that Dwight instantly liked (before shaking himself to clear his head from any enchantment). "Clarence, do you think you could get someone from maintenance out to check and see what happened to make that accident? And maybe call for Nora to take over for me? I could really use a burger break. Plus I have to thank my knight here for saving me."

Dwight was blushing just slightly when she turned back to him, the smile seeming to even be in her eyes (which he couldn't help but wonder about the actual color, if they were blue or green). He blinked a few times, sure that he was entranced and would need to be de-spelled. "I'm Miranda. And since you just saved me, I must insist on buying you something for lunch. Just let me get my replacement in here and then we can go eat and you can tell me just how you managed to save me like that. Deal?" Dwight frowned as he debated whether it would be better to just stay away from the obviously cursed (or some form of evil monster) actress or if it would be better to talk to her and see if she would let him do a purifying ritual over her to ensure that nothing else bad happened to her. At the very least he would need to try and do something to cleanse the taint from the actress so that it wouldn't spread to the rest of the park and possibly cause any sort of damage. So Dwight shrugged with a sort of noncommittal shrug. "Sure, I guess." At her smile seeming to grow, Dwight raised an eyebrow curiously. Maybe he shouldn't eat with someone he had just met after all, and someone who so obviously had some kind of taint on her from some evil thing ... And that smile must surely be some kind of enchantment.

_**A/N: Okay so gonna add a little drabble here at the end for my lovelies. This is just the beginning of the cute story with Dwight and Miranda. And sure Dwight's dad may not own Disney World, but I wanted to make her a princess, but then the fairies caught my bunnies … so sue me … or rather, don't, you won't get anything … so leave me reviews my lovelies and you'll help the bunnies! 3 **_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything (well Miranda and a few other OC's are mine). Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy, Dwight (and some of the other Warblers/Windsor/Dalton boys) belong to the epicly amazing CP Coulter … I don't own the theme parks hinted at here either (if I did I would be a lot richer than I am)_

_**A/N: so sorry this has taken so long to get updated … my real life (outside of writing and the bunnies) has been beyond hectic lately … but you can all thank me playing Dwight on a facebook role play for getting this chapter out quicker … I had already plotted most of it out (even writing some of it in my head) but the role play just sorta pushed him along … so here goes! Enjoy and leave me reviews … my bunnies love them! :)**_

Dwight stood waiting on Miranda to come out of the offices where she had insisted that she file an incident report so the maintenance crew would be forced to do something about it. She had also needed to change out of her costume. It was only then that he realized that he honestly didn't know what Miranda _really_ looked like. He only knew the costume. Dwight was just about to head into the office to actually stand a better chance of finding her when suddenly she was standing a few steps away from him. The same bright and amused smile was on her face and in this light her eyes looked gray. He briefly wondered if she was a shape-shifter because of the eyes but he smiled, remembering that he had made a pact to be less 'in your face' about the hunting aspects of his life.

Only when she was standing right in front of him in normal street clothes did Dwight notice how small she was. She couldn't be too much taller than five foot (while Dwight was hovering at six foot) and she looked completely tiny (her loose tunic tee nearly covering the jean shorts). Her blonde hair hung in soft waves down to her shoulders, and she was smiling back at him, amusement flickering in her eyes. "And my knight awaits! Come on, I managed to snag a double lunch after mentioning my near death experience and having lunch plans with a very important person around here." He rolled his eyes just slightly, realizing that this seemed to be another ploy just because he was the owner's son. It was always the same, the girl realizes who he is and the kind of pull that he has and instantly she tries to win him over. It had long since gotten annoying. "Right, since you seem to know who I am, how about we just skip this whole facade? Yes, my dad owns the park, among plenty of others. Yes, he's expanding, thus why I'm here. No you can't date me just to get into the good graces and fortune of my father. Now, you're welcome for saving your life, but honestly, there's no debt to be paid."

Dwight turned to stalk off away from the petite actress, stopping at the feel of a hand catching his wrist. "Stop, please." He didn't know why, but he did. Probably in part because he hated to be mean to anyone, but it might be some kind of enchantment or something on her part. He turned to glance back at her to see an amused expression on her face. "You think I didn't already know who you were, Dwight? That I didn't guess that you would assume that of anyone? But I should probably fully introduce myself. Hi, I'm Miranda Richland. I assume you know my dad and uncle Steve." Dwight raised an eyebrow. Okay so perhaps he had misjudged her a bit, considering if she really was the daughter of Mark Richland, then she would have about as much sway in the parks business as Dwight himself, since her father was one of the top amusement park ride engineers (and one of his dad's top shareholders). He assumed that she didn't take any offense to the assumption because she laughed before motioning in the direction of the food court area. "Okay come on, brave knight, let's go."

Before he knew what she was doing, Miranda had threaded an arm through his own, smiling as she almost pulled him along to one particular shop that Dwight had always loved because of their cheeseburgers. She didn't waste any time in the lines, instead just walking up to the side of the counter and motioning one of the people behind the counter over and ordering for herself before turning back to him as he just stared at her with a slightly bemused look on his face. "I'll have the number four meal, fries and chocolate milkshake." Before he could insist on paying (after all, no girl should pay for a meal, especially when he could easily get anything they wanted around here for free), she had already slid her card into the other girl's hand. "You didn't have to pay for mine too. Besides I do get pretty much anything for free if I wanted, not that I like having that kind of celebrity around here. I'd much rather just be like any other person." She laughed and Dwight realized that it was a nice sound. Sort of like the windchimes his mom had set up in the gardens back home from when he was a kid. He smiled without thinking about it and glanced down to see her staring slightly and he glanced around. "What is it? Is there something behind me?" She laughed again before shaking her head, and Dwight wondered what was so funny. "No, it's just that you have a really nice smile. You should try using it more often. Now come on, you pick the table, I'll grab the food." He shook his head. "No, lady's choice. And I'll carry the food. Did you need any ketchup or anything?"

Dwight grabbed the tray with their food on it before Miranda could, smiling slightly at her. "Never try to go against a hunter's speed, milady." She laughed again before turning away for a moment and he wondered if he had said something wrong. It wouldn't be the first time, or certainly not the last. But before he could figure out the answer, she turned back to him with a smile, her face a light pink. "Nobody's ever called me anything like that before." Dwight blinked before setting the tray down at the table and reaching and pulling out the chair for her, causing a slight flush of the pink blush to creep back over her cheeks. "Why not? You are a lady." He sits down across the table from her, blinking before eating a few fries. "So not anything like that? Fair maiden? Damsel in distress? Any of that?" She laughed again and Dwight didn't seem to understand what was so funny. "You're really taking this knight thing seriously, huh?" He shrugged before taking a bite of his burger, washing it down with a sip of his milkshake before answering her. "I got the nickname back in high school. They called me the 'White Knight'." She seemed to smile at that comment, and Dwight blushed slightly. "Like in the Wonderland stuff?" He laughed slightly. "Yeah, it was the Tweedles fault. Evil demon twins." He trailed off, not wanting to say anything too harsh in front of Miranda for fear she might think badly of him.

Miranda seemed to be amused though, if the smile was an indication. Dwight smiled back at her, eating more of his fries. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she seemed to laugh to herself. He didn't want to be nosy, but he was curious and couldn't keep from raising an eyebrow at her. She wasn't possessed or some other kind of monster, was she? Her smile just grew before she shrugged. "I was just laughing because I remembered a funny thing that my Mom used to tell me." Dwight tried to just brush it off, but he was never the best at containing his curiosity. She must have noticed because she laughed again, the windchime sound that made him smile unconsciously. "Okay so when Dad and uncle Steve first started getting into business with your dad, my family had a big cookout, to sorta see how everyone else in the company was. Well, I don't know if you remember it or not, but you were there too." Dwight blushed slightly at the memory. "I was only nine or ten, you can't still remember that. And Alan -" He broke off, not really up to talking about his brother. "Well, it's not just you tackling me and trying to say I was some kind of evil spirit. It was that . . . well, Mom got the funny idea that we should date. Something about it being a good business thing, and how she said it was so cute with us as kids. God, I sound like some kind of gold digger now. I don't even talk to Mom anymore, after last year. I'm just going to shut up now. Can you forget I even mentioned it?"

Dwight wondered why she seemed to get so upset. Those kind of comments were pretty commonplace. In fact there were a few of his friends from Dalton who had already gotten roped into arranged business marriages after taking over their family businesses. "Hey, don't worry about it, Mirie. Besides I think my mom did make me promise to make it up to you for ruining your dress. So even though it's a little late . . . sorry. I really did think you were some kind of lady in white, with you all perfect looking and such." There was the blush on her cheeks again, and Dwight wondered if she was okay. "Thanks, Dwight. Now come on, no more serious. Let's go ride some rides, and you can tell me what you've been doing ever since you went off to that boarding school." He laughed before shaking his head. "You don't want to know what happened at Dalton. It was too chaotic." Her laugh mixed with his for a moment and he stopped, a little stunned at the sound. Nobody had really laughed with him since Alan. "Sounds like fun. But come on, I want to play a little more before I have to get back to work. I can't be as lucky as being the owner's son." He wanted to remind her that he was here working too, but he just smiled, letting her pull him out of the little cafe.


End file.
